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Anomalous 14C Enrichments in the Eastern UK Coastal Environment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

Graham K P Muir ,
Gordon T Cook ,
Angus B MacKenzie ,
Gillian MacKinnon  and
Pauline Gulliver
Graham K P Muir*
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC), Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride, G750QF, UK
Gordon T Cook
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC), Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride, G750QF, UK
Angus B MacKenzie
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC), Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride, G750QF, UK
Gillian MacKinnon
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC), Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride, G750QF, UK
Pauline Gulliver
Affiliation:
NERC Radiocarbon Facility, SUERC, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride, G75 0QF, UK
*
2Corresponding author. Email: Graham.Muir@glasgow.ac.uk.
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Abstract

During the period from 1995 to 2011, radiocarbon measurements from the coast around Hartlepool in NE England have revealed anomalous enrichments in seawater, sediment, and marine biota. These cannot be explained on the basis of atomic weapons testing or authorized nuclear industry discharges, including those from the nearby advanced gas-cooled reactor. Enhanced 14C-specific activities have also been observed since 2005 in biota during routine monitoring at Hartlepool by the Food Standards Agency, but are reported as “likely” originating from a “nearby non-nuclear source.” Studies undertaken in Hartlepool and Teesmouth during 2005 and 2011 suggest that the 14C discharges are in the vicinity of Greatham Creek, with activity levels in biota analogous to those measured at Sellafield, which discharges TBq activities of 14C per annum. However, if the discharges are into Greatham Creek or even the River Tees, it is proposed that they would be much smaller than those at Sellafield and the high specific activities would be due to much smaller dilution factors. The discharge form of the 14C remains unclear. The activity patterns in biota are similar to those at Sellafield, suggesting that initial inputs are dissolved inorganic carbon (DI14C). However, the mussel/seaweed ratios are more akin to those found around Amersham International, Cardiff, which is known to discharge 14C in an organic form. 14C analysis of a sediment core from Seal Sands demonstrated excess 14C to the base of the core (43–44 cm). 210Pb dating of the core (0–32 cm) produced an accumulation rate of 0.7 g cm−2 yr−1, implying that 14C discharges have occurred from the 1960s until the present day.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 57 , Issue 3 , 2015 , pp. 337 - 345
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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